BRISTOL — Having awarded the contract for the first phase of work at the town’s transfer station to one of its own members, the Bristol Board of Selectmen publicly reviewed the bidding process during its April 19 meeting.
Chair Rick Alpers raised the issue as engineer Mike Vignale was providing an update on the project. Alpers said that, out of fairness to J.P. Morrison and the town, it was important to remind people of how Morrison ended up as the lowest bidder.
“There was no special consideration to J.P. ,” Alpers said.
Vignale listed the publications where the bid request was published, said there was a pre-bid meeting giving representatives of the various construction companies an opportunity to ask questions to clarify their understanding of the job, and explained that six bids were received — all coming in higher than expected.
Morrison Construction LLC was the low bidder, at $213,950, with the next lowest bid coming from United Construction Corporation, at $246,937. The highest bid — $293,800 — came from R.D. Edmunds & Sons.
Besides the construction work, the project budget included $10,300 for engineering, $28,850 for a new compactor, and $8,000 for electrical, bringing the total project cost to $261,100.
Morrison pointed out that United’s bid was $35,000 higher than his. “If we were $1 less than the next bidder, it might be something to think about,” he said.
Selectman Les Dion said she was “very comfortable” with that explanation, and added that she was glad the bid went to a local company that also was the low bidder.
Selectman Don Milbrand was not present at the meeting, but the consensus among the other selectmen was that the town should proceed with the signing of the contracts for work at the transfer station.
With the cost of recycling exceeding that of disposing of rubbish in the regular solid waste bin, town officials are looking at ways of keeping costs down. Alpers said they are reluctant to do away with recycling completely because it might be difficult to get people to resume recycling when the market changes, but he admitted that the town may have to consider that if the costs continue running so high. Currently, it costs $120 per ton to get rid of recyclables, while regular solid waste costs $65 per ton.
The town has started asking people to separate glass from other recyclables, to reduce the volume, and they were to visit New London’s setup because that town reportedly continues to make money by recycling.
Other projects discussed included the Millstream Park project, where various groups are looking at providing an informational kiosk, signs, and seating areas. Planner Liz Kelly said they also are considering extending the bike path that now starts at one end of the property all the way through the park. Kelly is looking into grants that might help with the project on town property where the former Millstream restaurant used to operate, alongside the Newfound River.
Selectmen also discussed the prospect of moving the former chamber of commerce information booth from the foot of Newfound Lake to Millstream Park.
Across town, Vignale is assisting with the design of a park and multi-use trail by the old train depot at the confluence of the Newfound and Pemigewasset rivers. He said there are trees that need to be cut, but taking down trees is prohibited between June 1 and July 31, so they would have to fell the trees between now and the end of May. The town plans to put up signs and construction fencing to keep people out during that phase of the work.
Vignale said plans for work on Central Street have been scaled down to make sure the work fits within the budget.
He is still looking into what should be done about erosion at Cummings Beach. He expects to recommend extending a wall and placing stone along the slope to stabilize the bank.
Selectmen asked Town Administrator Nik Coates and Fire Chief Ben LaRoche to get additional bids for the architectural and engineering work at the fire station. They had one bid, from Warren Street Architects, but town policy calls for three bids on projects in this price range — $15,000.
Coates reported that students from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Engineering have asked the town to suggest a project they could do, and he suggested a market analysis. The students will weigh proposals from several communities and decide which one they would like to take up.
21 April 2018
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